Stair-pad



(No Model.)

T. S. SPERRY STAIR PAD.

No. 443,803. Patented Dec. 30, 1890.,

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1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TIMOTHY S. SPERRY, OF FLATBUSII, NElV YORK.

STAlR-PAD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 443,803, dated December 30, 1890.

Application filed April 21, 1890. Serial No. 348,856. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, TIMOTHY S. SPERRY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Flatbush, Kings county, New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Stair-Pads, of which the following is a specification.

I have improved the elastic stair-pad in particulars which render its construction con1- paratively cheap, durable, and effective for the purpose of protecting the stair-carpet from undue wear and cutting out at the nose of the tread and for retaining-the pad in place. For this purpose my improvement provides the fabric casing, which incloses the elastic filling with strips of sheet metal or other inelastic material, separately and independently applied to the fabric casing by tufting or sewing or otherwise fastening them directly to the fabric, either on its inner or 011 its outer side to form a stiffening base therefor, and the means of forming a nose-bend at the edge of the pad for retaining it in place upon the step.

In this construction the distinguishing features of my improvement reside in the provision of the independent strips secured at intervals directly to the bottom of the casing, whereby the latter is made to serve the purpose of inclosing the elastic filling, forminga stiffened bottom therefor and for forming the retaining nose-bend, and thereby dispense with the use of separate and distinct base or bottom frames, which have been heretofore used and which enhance the cost and weight of the pad. A lining of suitable paper may be used in connection with the strips for giving a smooth set to the bottom of the pad.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my improved stair-pad, in which Figure 1 shows the pad in perspective and broken away at one end to expose the metal strips placed within the pad-casing. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the pad, and Fig. 3 is a cross-section thereof, showing the pad as applied to one of the stair-steps. Fig. 4. is a sectional view showing the metal strips as secured within pockets 011 the outer side of the casing, and Fig. 5 shows the pad so formed as applied to the step.

The filling for the pad may be of any suitable elastic material and inclosed in a fabric casin g sewed together at its edges to inclose the filling. A very simple and cheap way of applying my improvement to this pad is shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, wherein metal strips a, preferably of tin, are seen as placed within the casing on the bottom side thereof and arranged crosswise at intervals along the length of the pad. As shown, these strips are secured to the casin g by tufting I) through the pad, so as to hold the strips in place. They may, however, be so confined by sewing, by riveting, or by pockets sewed or woven in the fabric, and they may be secured either on the inner side or on the outer side of the fabric. These strips are of a length a little less than the width of the pad, so that either edge of the latter can be used by bending the ends a of the strips to fit over and under the nosing of the stair-step, and thereby retain the pad in place. hen the metal strips are fastened within the fabric casing, I prefer to use a lining of suitable paper (1, placed between the strips and the casing so as to form a smooth bottom surface for the latter, and in such case I fasten the casing, the lining, the metal strips, and the filling together, and in this case I prefer to use. cotton-batting as the filling. The strips are about an inch wide and may be arranged at any suitable distance apart. I have used three strips to a pad and find they are sufficiently effective in forming the retaining-nose when bent at their free ends, and it is easy and convenient to bend these ends, it is easy and convenient to straighten them, and in this way the pad may be reversed to change its position to equalize the wear and reduce any unequal collection of the filling.

The separate and independent relation of the strips with respect to each other gives the advantage of forming the nose at intervals along the pad and with a comparatively short bend at each end of each strip.

1 know that a stair-pad has been used which consists of a fabric covering inclosin g an elastic filling and a rectangular frame of flexible inelastic connected parts secured to and extending around the four sides of the pad and adapted to be bent with the casing to engage the front edge of the stair-tread and forming a pad which cannot be folded in any direction an d in which said frame greatly increases the weight and expense of the pad. The improvement set out in my claim gives the advantage of allowing the pad to be freely folded or rolled for convenience for transportation and of greatly reducing its weight and expense.

I claim as my improvement- 1. The herein-described stair-pad, consisting of a fabric casing and metal strips secured to its inner surface by tufting through said casing along the edges of the separate strips to form separate pockets for said strips within the casing, as shown and described. 

